Former Eagle star Shannon Murphy, who joined the staff prior to the 2019-20 campaign, is in her fifth season as an assistant coach while also serving as the team’s recruiting coordinator for the third straight year.
A 2019 selection to the WBCA’s Thirty Under 30 list and former FGCU floor general, Murphy primarily works with the guards in practice. In order to make practices more competitive, she is a member of the scout team and jumps in drills when needed. She also helps the program push two of its biggest pillars - mentorship and skill development. Away from the court, continues to have a large role in recruiting, assisting associate head coach Chelsea Lyles in locating and developing future talent for the program. Furthermore, she is in charge of organizing and ordering team gear needs, and she manages summer camps.
The Green & Blue finished the 2023-23 campaign 33-4 in head coach Karl Smesko's 21st season, an effort that included the program's 13th ASUN Conference regular season title, 10th ASUN Tournament Championship, ninth NCAA Tournament berth and fourth NCAA Tournament victory.
The Eagles etched their names into the NCAA record book this season, winning their third game as a 12 seed – the most in tournament history – by defeating fifth-seeded Washington State 74-63.
FGCU finished the year with 425 3-pointers – just six 3s behind their own all-time record of 431 in 2017-18. The Eagles tripled their opponents' treys total, allowing only 144. FGCU led the nation in made 3s per game for the fourth consecutive season.
Ranked No. 24 in the final USA Today/Coaches Top 25 poll, the Green & Blue emerged as the only non-Power 5/Big East team to be ranked in the final poll – and is the only mid-major with four straight Top 25 rankings.
The No. 24 FGCU women's basketball team earned a multitude of awards from the ASUN Conference, as fifth-year guard Tishara Morehouse earned the ASUN Women's Basketball Player of the Year and earned a spot on the ASUN Women's Basketball First-Team list for the third consecutive season.
Graduate guard Sha Carter, who was named the ASUN Women's Basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year, was also named to the ASUN Women's Basketball First-Team All-Conference list. Junior guard Alyza Winston was named to the Third-Team list.
For just the third time in FGCU women's basketball history, Morehouse was honored as a 2023 NCAA Division I Coaches' All-America honorable mention selection by the Women's Basketball Coaches Association. Morehouse joined former Eagle standouts Kierstan Bell and Keri Jewett-Giles as the only FGCU players to earn such an honor in the program's illustrious history.
Sha Carter was also named to the 2023 I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Teams -- the 14th Eagle to earn such honors.
In 2021-22, Murphy helped guide FGCU to a 30-3 record, including a 15-1 conference slate and an ASUN-record sixth-consecutive tournament championship, which helped the program qualify for the NCAA Tournament for the ninth time in 11 seasons. Once there, they knocked off No. 5 Virginia Tech in the opening round. Along the way, the Eagles reeled off a 15-game winning streak, captured Coach Smesko’s 600th career victory, earned a national ranking for the fourth time in five seasons and became the third team in program history to finish the campaign ranked in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
In the 2020-21 season, Murphy helped guide the Eagles to another championship campaign despite the adversity of Covid-19 and losing over 90 percent of the team’s scoring from the previous campaign. With her assistance, FGCU finished 26-3 overall, including a 16-0 record in conference play. The season ended with a loss to No. 14 Michigan in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament. Along the way, the Eagles reeled off a 25-game winning streak, captured the program’s 500th victory, earned a national ranking for the third time in four seasons and became the second team in program history to finish the campaign ranked in both the AP and Coaches Polls.
In 2019-20, the Brighton, Mich. native helped lead the Green and Blue to a 30-3 record, which included a conference-record breaking 10th ASUN regular season championship. The team was slated to take on Liberty in the conference title game before Covid-19 ended the season prematurely. Due to that, FGCU was named co-tournament champs, becoming just the second team in ASUN history to claim four straight such titles. During the season, Murphy helped create effective and competitive game plans for the team’s wins over UCF, Notre Dame and Temple, and she also played a pivotal role in game prep in victories over Duke, South Dakota State and USF. The Eagles appeared in the USA Today Coaches Poll a program-record 10 times before finishing the season at No. 24.
EMBRY-RIDDLE
Prior to joining the staff at FGCU, Murphy was the first assistant coach in Embry-Riddle's history, helping them transition from NAIA to NCAA Division II play as she helped develop the program's culture on and off the court through team bonding, community service, academic support, recruiting and player development for six seasons from 2014-19.
Furthermore, Murphy played a large role in recruiting efforts, identifying and recruiting back-to-back Sunshine State Conference (SSC) Freshman of the Year recipients, as well as one newcomer and defensive player of the year recipient apiece. Her team also excelled in the classroom with five players earning CoSIDA Academic All-District, and the majority of the team earned SSC Commissioner’s Honor Roll each semester.
Prior to the 2016-17 season, Murphy led the installment of a motion offense with high emphasis on reading and reacting by implementing similar concepts she learned as a player under the tutelage of Coach Smesko from 2007-11. This translated to immediate success resulting in an eight-win improvement from the prior season. In their first season as full members of NCAA Division II in 2017-18, the Eagles finished with a 24-8 record, earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament and winning the first postseason game in program history. After graduating a class of six seniors that season, they completed their third consecutive winning season in 2018-2019 with a 17-11 record.
OTHER STOPS
During the summer of 2014, Murphy served as the head coach for the American International Sports Teams program. She took her team, which was comprised of high school players from across the U.S., including California, Texas, New York, Florida, Michigan, Minnesota, Wyoming and Washington, on a 10-day European Tour. In addition to traveling to Germany and Italy, Murphy and her team competed at the United World Games in Austria and in her first experience as a head coach, she guided her squad to a 4-1 record and third-place tournament finish.
Murphy was also named the Vice President of Three Points Hoops, Inc. Her responsibilities included directing Nike summer basketball camps around the state of Florida, running USSSA Basketball tournaments for boys and girls, and providing private training and player development for boys and girls ranging from age seven to the collegiate level.
PLAYING CAREER
Murphy competed for the FGCU women’s basketball program during its NCAA Division I transition period from 2007-11. A three-year team captain, she helped the Eagles compile a 100-25 overall record, which included the program’s first two ASUN regular season championships. She also led the team to four straight WNIT appearances, where she guided the team to three victories.
Individually, Murphy became the third Eagle to score 1,000 career points (1,185), graduated as the Green and Blue’s career assist leader (419) and recorded 219 3-point field goals, which still ranks fifth all-time in program history entering the 2022-23 season. She was a two-time All-ASUN selection, won FGCU’s Most Outstanding Co-Female Student Athlete Award and captured the Carl McAloose Spirit Award as a senior. She graduated with a bachelor’s in marketing with a minor in advertising in May 2011.
Prior to her playing career at FGCU, Murphy prepped at Brighton High School, which was ranked No. 1 at the Class A level in the state of Michigan during her senior season. As the starting point guard, she finished her high school career with First Team All-Michigan recognition. Along with finishing top 10 in the state for 3-point percentage, she broke the assist and three-point records at Brighton High School.
UPDATED: 11/6/23
